Government failure

The third worst small county in the United States for unsheltered homeless? Dee Torres thinks more case workers will create more beds or shelter. Amazing — this is the battle cry of the bureaucrat: “more money, more staff.” The two shelters we have were provided by the community, not the county or the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County (formerly the EOC). This county has no services to refer clients to anyway, so case workers are a waste of money.

In the 2010-15 Consolidated Plan, 20 percent of the homeless said they lost their homes because of substance abuse. Check any other county and usually 1 to 2 percent say this. SLO County has no real treatment programs. It does “education” by court order only. This lack of services results in an ever-rising number of suicides and overdoses for the past 20 years. We are in the bottom quarter of the California counties for these also. More money, more staff helps no one.

Every county is funded the same way. SLO’s failure is the fault of county staff. It is time our elected officials take back the management of this government and these people whom have failed us so miserably. They’re serving no one but themselves.

Never miss a local story.

Sign up today for unlimited digital access to our website, apps, the digital newspaper and more.